DigiTimes heard Intel notified its partners that it will reduce the pricing of its Sandy Bridge processors. Some Core i3 and i5 chips will see drops of 10-15 percent.

Since Intel is set to announce its next-generation Ivy Bridge-based processor in April of 2012, the company is hoping the price reduction could stimulate the market demand with several notebook vendors such as Lenovo, Asustek Computer and Acer have already dropped their Core i5-2430 equipped notebook model to below NT$20,000 (US$659) and Core i3-equipped models to below NT$13,000.

The sources also expect the vendors to drop the prices of their first-generation Core i5-based ultrabooks to US$799-899 in January of 2012 to clear up inventory and to avoid these machines from biting off demand from their next-generation ultrabook models.

We've mentioned them once or twice already in the past few weeks. 

 Launched at CES 2011 with the low-power, cool-to-the-touch C- and E-Series, APUs reached new heights in June with launch of the high-powered A-Series APUs for desktop and notebook. AMD today introduced new notebook and desktop APU models to the A-Series family, bringing improved performance and a variety of enhancements, including:

• Added frequency for performance uplift.
• AMD Fusion APUs offer AMD Dual Graphics for an up to 144 percent visual performance boost when paired with select AMD Radeon
  

Ivy Bridge micro-architecture, planned for the second quarter 2012, will bring a number of enhancements to CPU and graphics portions of the chip. CPU-world just compiled (courtesy to them) a lits of details and prices, check it out:

The CPU cores will feature up to 15%, sometimes even higher performance due to micro-architecture improvements and 100 MHz - 300 MHz higher Turbo Boost frequencies. HD 4000 and HD 2500 graphics will add support for DirectX 11, and it will be considerably faster than current HD 3000 and HD 2000 on-chip graphics. What's more important, better performing Ivy Bridge CPUs will come with 20% lower Thermal Design Power. It's great that upcoming CPUs will run cooler and faster, but at what price? Based on pricing information, that we've seen, desktop Ivy Bridge SKUs will have prices, in most cases identical to Sandy Bridge predecessors.

The fastest and the most expensive processor from Core i7 series will be Intel i7-3770K CPU with unlocked clock multiplier. This 3.5 GHz quad-core chip will come with 8 MB L3 cache, Hyper-Threading, and up to 3.9 GHz Turbo Boost. The CPU will replace Core i7-2700K, and it will be priced the same, at $332.

Three remaining SKUs from Core i7 family, i7-3770, i7-3770S and i7-3770T, will cost $294 in 1K quantities. It's good to see that Intel continues to offer energy-efficient "S" and "T" models at the same price level as mainstream microprocessors.

Similar to current Sandy Bridge products, Ivy Bridge Core i5s will feature 4 CPU cores with 6 MB of last level cache. The only exception to this is a dual-core i5-3470T with 3 MB L3 cache. The fastest i5 chip will be i5-3570K, a successor to Core i5-2500K. This CPU will come with $225 price sticker. Other i5-35xx series products, namely Core i5-3550, i5-3550S and i5-3570T, will cost $205, or $20 cheaper than the i5-3570K. i5-34xx processors will be the most affordable from i5 family. There will be three of them available in Q2 2012 at $184: Core i5-3450, i5-3450S and i5-3470T.

Table below contains a summary of features of soon to be released Ivy Bridge processors. Dual-core Core i5-3470T will be available in May. Remaining 10 i5 and i7 models will launch in April. Prices of future IB processors are presented in the "Price"column. The last column in the table shows Sandy Bridge model, that will be replaced, or closely matches, upcoming IB CPU:

Intel Sandy Bridge-E may be a duo this time, having only two processors (the Core i7-3960X and i7-3930K hexa-cores) to choose from, but early next year it will turn into a trio through the release of the Core i7-3820.

This new model is the cheapest in the Sandy Bridge-E family and has begun to become available for pre-order around the world.

Built using 32nm process technology, the i7-3820 features four cores clocked at 3.6 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo), eight threads, 10 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel memory controller, and a TDP of 130W. The Core i7-3820 can be found listed in the US at $311.54 and in Europe at 276 Euro.

The hotfix for AMD's Bulldozer processors we wrote about yesterday is no longer available on Microsoft's website. The Bulldozer hotfix improves thread scheduling and should result in nice performance gains, but it turns out the patch that was released yesterday is only part one of two updates that are needed to optimize Windows XP, Vista and 7 for Bulldozer.

The final hotfix is expected sometime in Q1 2012, so Bulldozer owners will have to wait a bit longer until they can unlock the true potential of their chip.
AMD was surprised that Microsoft decided to post the patch in its current form, because:

"there are actually two updates needed for AMD Bulldozer CPU architecture. Microsoft posted just the first patch and we do not believe users would benefit in any way from it. The patch was originally scheduled for the first quarter 2012 and then the users will see tangible performance benefits when using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems."

We mentioned AMD

Microsoft has rolled out a hotfix to optimize the performance of AMD's Bulldozer processors on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 based systems. The hotfix enables Bulldozer to use Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT).

This article introduces an update that optimizes the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers. Currently, the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs is slower than expected. This behavior occurs because the threading logic in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 is not optimized to use the Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) scheduling feature. This feature was introduced in the Bulldozer family of AMD CPUs.

Note This issue may occur when you use applications that run in multiple threads.

Download

Update: the Dutch colleagues from tweakers.net have tested the patch and the differences are less then impressive:

Turkish tech site Donanim Haber shows leaked slides that reveal AMD is getting ready to launch the FX-6200, a new six-core chip with a 3.8GHz clockspeed and 4.10GHz Turbo.

It features six cores, 6 MB total L2 cache, and 8 MB total L3 cache. Its TDP is rated at 125W. In a presentation to retailers sourced by DonanimHaber, AMD pitched the FX-6200 to have about 10% higher performance at Mainconcept HD to Flash conversion, than the FX-6100 (3.30 GHz nominal, 3.90 GHz max. turbo).

Intel is now working on another multiplier-unlocked Sandy Bridge part, this time from the Core i5 series, namely the i5-2550K, which is expected to arrive at about the same time as AMD

These ones are aimed at OEMs, so they didn't make it onto Intel's official price list (and won't, since their kind usually doesn't), hence the mystery surrounding them.

That didn't stop people from snooping around, though, not with these being quad-core models with TDP (thermal design power) of 35W.

Intel hasn't confirmed any of this, of course, but signs do suggest these are the fabled 35W models.The items have the names of Core i7-3615QM, Core i7-3612QM and Core i7-3610QM. They are similar to the Core i7-2630QM

Intel issued a warning that its Q4 revenue will be lower than previously expected, mostly due to the hard drive supply problems brought on by the floods in Thailand.

The HDD shortages are forcing PC makers to reduce CPU inventories, and this, of course, is affecting its sales. The chip company expects the hard drive shortages to continue into Q1 but is hopeful that things will get back on track in the first half of 2012.

The updated Q4 guidance talks about a revenue of $13.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. This is down from the $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million predicted in October.

Intel's hexa-core Core i7-3960X (3.3 GHz) and Core i7-3930K (3.2 GHz) will be getting a C2 revision in January to fix Intel VT-d support.

As reported earlier, Intel's first wave of Sandy Bridge-E processors have VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) disabled due to an errata in the C1 stepping. That issue couldn't be resolved in time for the launch but it's getting fixed with the C2 stepping which is set to start rolling out to customers on January 20th, 2012 (samples have already been delivered).

Interesting, it seems that more and more people have their hands on a Intel Ivy Bridge engineering sample. A couple of these users made some banchmarks and posted them, the screenshots are courtesy of chiphell.

 An Intel Core i7-3770 sample was the test candidate for stuff like 3DMark, Fritz Chess, and Cinebench test results.

This chip has all components and features available to Ivy Bridge LGA1155 enabled, including HyperThreading, a faster uncore, and the full 8 MB L3 cache. The chip was put through 3DMark 06 (to test its CPU and iGPU performance), Cinebench 11.5 (both single-thread and multi-threaded), and Fritz Chess Benchmark (again, both single and multiple threads).

CineBench scored 7.52 which is slightly faster then a Core i7 2600 at 6.51

Barein mind that this was tested using Alpha drivers and there's four months or so to go until launch. I wouldn't take these early benchmarks as more than that, a very early performance preview

In the third quarter of the following year, AMD seems to prepare the introduction of its next-generation FX-Series processor, code named Vishera, which is expected to make the transition to the Piledriver cores as soft-pedia reports today:

When compared with the first-generation Bulldozer cores, that are used for the current FX-Series processors, Piledriver is expected to bring a 10-15 percent increase in performance/Watt, as AMD revealed right after the launch of the FX-8150 & Co.

The added performance will come from IPC improvements like structure size increases (about one third of the total performance), and power optimizations that reduce the overall consumption of the CPU.

The latter will also enable AMD's Piledriver core to reach higher frequencies at a constant TDP. Vishera CPUs will continue to be manufactured by GloFo using the 32nm process and will include 4 Piledriver modules for a total of eight processing cores, which is less than the 10-core that were expected from the now canceled Komodo chips.

The good news is that Vishera will use the same AM3+ socket as AMD

Intel announced that by the end of the next year it will halt shipments of a wide series of 900-series processors, including the six-core i7-990X.

The chip maker has announced its decision through a Product Change Notification (PCN) document and covers five Core i7-900 series processors using the LGA 1366 socket.

The chips in question are the box and tray versions of the Core i7-980, i7-960, i7-950, i7-930 as well as those of the Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition.

Customers can place orders for these chips until June 29 of 2012. The last shipments of tray CPUs will be sent out towards those who have placed orders on December 7, 2012, while boxed processors will be shipped as long as supplies last.

While definitely important, Intel

Intel sends word that they plans to retire five Sandy Bridge LGA 1155 CPUs released earlier this year from its product lineup, including three Pentium processors and two second generation Core models built using the 32nm fabrication node.

The processors affected are the Core i5-2300 and Core i3-2100T, both tray and boxed, as well as the Pentium G840, G620 and G620T.

Customers can place orders for these chips until June 29 of 2012. The last shipments of tray Core i5-2300 and Core i3-2100T will be sent towards customers on December 7, 2012, while boxed CPUs will be shipped as long as supplies last.

Both the Core i5-2300 and the Core i3-2100T were part of the first Sandy Bridge chips released by Intel at the start of 2011 when the architecture became official.

In 2012 Intel will introduce a new series of processors based on the Ivy Bridge architecture so it needs to make room in its lineup for these upcoming SKUs.

After the Core i5-2300 and the Core i3-2100T will be retired from Intel

It's been mentioned a couple of times already, but it seems that AMD will launch its unlocked A8 and A6 series APUs in the FM1 package, that are geared for overclocking.

The A8-3870K is clocked at 3.00 GHz, and the A6-3670K at 2.60 GHz. The two are quad-core APUs, and differ by the core clock speeds and integrated GPUs. While the A8-3870K packs Radeon HD 6550D graphics with 400 stream processors, the A6-3670K has Radeon HD 6530D graphics with 320 stream processors. The two were listed for pre-order on ShopBLT, with the A8-3870K priced at US $143.77, and the A6-3670K at $121.50. It is expected that prices of A8-3850 and A6-3650 will drop after the launch of these two chips.

Intel disclosed recently that the company has already finalized the very first test circuits built using the advanced 14 process technology which the chip maker plans to use for manufacturing its 2014 processors code named Broadwell, says softpedia:

The info was disclosed by Pat Bliemer, Managing Director for Northern Europe and Benelux at Intel, in an exclusive interview with the Nordic Hardware website.

According to the company

When you do reviews on procesors, there's certain stuff you need to take for granted.

So if AMD says the processor has 2 Billion transistors .. we'll I'm not about to count them to verify really ! Yesterday AMD PR send word arround that itt is now correcting all reviewers. 1.2B is the correct count not 2B, so there's a 800 million transistor count discrepenacy.

The die area, at least, remained the same for an 8-core/4-module Bulldozer: 315 square millimeters. It is a bit strange that it took Advanced Micro Devices so long to spot the error.

We'll update the reviews soon.

Ivy Bridge CPUs will have single threaded performance on par with the existing Sandy Bridge CPUs and will mainly deliver improvements to power consumption and integrated graphics - nothing for PC enthusiasts to get excited about.

Intel have now revealed official performance figures for IB and they look rather good. They've produced a raft of benchmarks, which reveal improvements such as 56% in ArcSoft Media Expresso, 25% in Excel 2010 and a 199% gain in the 3D Mark Vantage GPU benchmark. Unfortunately, they haven't released any benchmarks based on high performance 3D games, but it's probably safe to say that they will be similarly improved. Now, on to the benchmarks, which compare their new 3.4 GHz i7-3770 (4 cores + HT) with the current 3.4 GHz i7-2600, also with 4 cores + HT:

• +7% higher overall SYSmark 2012 score
• +14% higher overall HDXPRT 2011 score
• +15% higher Cinebench 11.5 score
• +13% better ProShow Gold 4.5 result
• +25% faster performance in Excel 2010
• +56% faster performance in ArcSoft Media Expresso
• +192% higher overall 3DMark Vantage score
• +17% faster performance in 3DMark Vantage CPU benchmark
• +199% faster performance in 3DMark Vantage GPU benchmark

The key architectural enhancements delivering these improvements are:

• Intel's new 22nm 3D Tri-Gate technology. More on this here
• Enhanced AVX acceleration
• IGP performance improved by 30% compared to its predecessor
• IGP supports DX11 and OpenCL 1.1
• PCI Express 3.0 x16 interface, including a PCI Express 2.0 x4 controller

Ivy Bridge will feature PCI Express 3.0 x16 interconnection as well as PCIe 2.0 x4 controller. In fourth, the processor will support a number of power management innovations. The CPU is made using 22nm process technology.

Intel will release its code-named Ivy Bridge central processing units for desktops in March or April, 2012.